


Cloudy Water

by SandyRoses



Series: Under The Sea [2]
Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Again, Alternate Universe - Fantasy Creatures, Boys Kissing, Choi Seungcheol used an apple watch as a choker and I am not over it, Fish Boy Joshua, Fluff, Gills, Glitter, He has gills, Humor, Idol-Verse, JiHan are bratty best friends, Joshua is a swimmy boye, Kissing, M/M, Rated T for swearing, Soft Boys At Heart, This is from their HIT image cut, Wonwoo is Tired, bathing together, hints of magic, slight crack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-05
Updated: 2019-09-05
Packaged: 2020-10-10 05:21:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20522615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SandyRoses/pseuds/SandyRoses
Summary: When the filming of their new MV comes along, Joshua is more than excited, and Seungcheol thinks the world might just be working to screw him over.





	Cloudy Water

**Author's Note:**

> Ok disclaimer I wrote Fish Boy before any of the HIT trailers even came out, so imagine my surprise when I look at the HIT MV teaser and see Josh floatin' in the water like a happy swimmy boye  
I can't say I called it but  
I called it
> 
> ALSO SCHOOL JUST STARTED FOR ME SO HAVE THIS TO TIDE YOU OVER FOR A WHILE AS I TRY TO BALANCE WORK AND WRITING  
I PROMISE I WON'T STOP UPDATES MIGHT JUST TAKE LONGER
> 
> Still gotta water the CheolSoo tag I love this pairing

“This is...painfully ironic,” Seungcheol muttered to himself, shaking his head as Joshua laced up the open part of his almost pirate-style shirt.

“Isn’t it? We have a member who loves water more than he loves himself, and guess what we get to do for the image cut,” Jeonghan snorted, and both of them glanced over as a very, very excited Joshua sort of bounced around, waiting for when he would be allowed into the wide, shallow pool of cloudy blue water that would be used for their mv.

“Alright, go calm him down before he dives in and hits his head on the bottom. That stuff only goes up to my knees,” Jeonghan chuckled, shooing Seungcheol towards Joshua. 

“Ok, Shua, I know you’re excited, but please, calm down before someone tells you to sit in a corner, that someone being me,” Seungcheol called, a laugh in his voice when Joshua perked up at his voice. The slender singer bounced over to him eagerly, latching onto his arm.

“Sorry, sorry, can’t help myself. You know why,” he hummed, and Seungcheol’s eyes lowered to his neck, where, just for a split second, the telltale flicker of his gills made the leader grin. Glancing around him for a moment, he reached up, running his index along the seamless curve of Joshua’s neck, eliciting a satisfying shiver. 

“Ack- don’t do that here,” Joshua huffed a second too late, swatting his hand away. Seungcheol snickered.

“Alright, alright, but make sure you stay put before one of the stylist noonas forces you to sit down,” he instructed, placing a hand on the small of Joshua’s back and leading him away from the pool.

“No,” Joshua whined, pushing against his hand. “I wanna go back to the water.”

“I know. But not yet, ok? Just give it like, 10 minutes. We need the camera to be ready when you finally get in,” he reminded. Joshua pouted, but he relented and walked over to talk to Mingyu instead.

“Is he still obsessed with the water? It’s not even that deep,” Wonwoo asked, raising an eyebrow. Seungcheol snorted, nodding, and Wonwoo’s nose scrunched up a little in the way Seungcheol had grown to know meant he was amused and a bit fond. It was an expression he often wore when looking at Mingyu.

“Oh, by the way, where’s Chan? I saw him canoodling around set a while ago,” he pointed out, and Wonwoo glanced around.

“Actually, I dunno. I think I saw him and Hansol and Jun giggling about something earlier, but I can’t be sure,” he shrugged, closing his eyes as one of the stylists came up and dabbed a bit of eyeshadow on his lids. Seungcheol hummed, tilting his head up as the stylist adjusted the watch around his neck. He didn’t really get why he was literally wearing an Apple watch as a choker, but Jeonghan said that when he ripped it off at the end of the video it would be hot, so he bore with it.

“Also, _ canoodling_? Really?” Wonwoo raised an eyebrow at him and Seungcheol squinted back.

“What? It’s fun to say,” he defended, and Wonwoo rolled his eyes.

“Sure. I’m gonna go look for Chan; you keep your fish boy under control, ok? And keep in mind there are cameras around. I saw you groping his neck earlier.” At that, Seungcheol could feel his ears heat up a little.

“I wasn’t- It’s not like that!” he protested quickly. “It’s just- whenever I do that he calms down and it’s like- it’s like picking up a kitten by the back of their neck,” he explained, hoping that using cat language would get through to Wonwoo.

“Sure,” Wonwoo said again, and Seungcheol glared playfully at him. Wonwoo just kept giving him a sort of suspicious look as he walked off, and Seungcheol sighed. He’d have to be a little more careful, especially since they were in a room literally packed to the roof with different cameras that were watching them at all times. 

Speaking of cameras, a hand suddenly grabbed the back of his suit and tugged him down, and a sharp bark of “duck!” made him follow as one of the dolly-tracking cameras swung over his head.

“I owe you,” he muttered, standing up and shooting Jeonghan a grateful smile over his shoulder, who was smirking.

“Smooth,” was all Jeonghan said, glancing up at the camera, which had been moved for Seungkwan to sit and sing his part. They all shut up as the sound of the recording started echoing through the studio, giving Seungkwan the cue to sing his lines. “Anyway, Joshuji’s literally three seconds away from going insane if they don’t let him in the water so I suggest you go supervise that. They’re gonna do his and Mingyu’s part last, since it involves them getting wet, but we’re almost done with Seungkwan, then it’s just a redo of the zoom-in for Vernon,” he whispered, reaching forward to tap the watch around Seungcheol’s neck to check the time. 

Rolling his eyes, Seungcheol swatted him away, huffing a sharp noise through his nose.

“Quit using me as a clock.”

“I’m opportunistic, and you’re right there, so…” Jeonghan shrugged, looking unbothered, and Seungcheol rolled his eyes again, though he did ask Jeonghan for the time before making his way over to Joshua, who was being held hostage in a chair by their manager so he wouldn’t bother the set workers.

“Are you behaving yourself?” he huffed, raising an eyebrow, and Joshua flashed him a sort of helpless puppy look that Seungcheol had to physically look away from. “That- that doesn’t answer my question.”

“I mean, I haven’t moved for a while, so...does that count?” he pouted, and Seungcheol shook his head fondly.

“Just make sure you don’t explode when they let you in the water, ok?” he said gently, lightly petting Joshua’s gold-brown hair. Joshua nodded, glancing up at him through his fringe before looking at the shallow pool. “Also, don’t do anything _ fishy_,” he muttered, leaning close to Joshua’s ear so their manager wouldn’t overhear. 

“Was that a joke? And I know. I’m not breathing that stuff in; I don’t know what they put in that water,” Joshua muttered back, reaching up to run a finger along the watch on his neck. Seungcheol shivered, jerking back a little, and Joshua smirked. “They’re saving your part for last, aren’t they?” he quipped, hooking a finger under the band and gently pulling Seungcheol closer.

“Y-yeah, what about it?” Seungcheol mumbled uneasily, cheeks heating up at their close proximity. 

“I’m looking forward to it,” Joshua purred, cat-eyed narrowing slightly.

Seungcheol shuddered. “You’ve been hanging with Jeonghan too much,” he muttered, and Joshua laughed, standing up to stretch. Seungcheol let his eyes follow the graceful curve of Joshua’s neck, prominent adam’s apple on display. Seungcheol kind of wanted to bite it. He tore his eyes away when he noticed Joshua smirking at him, but he placated himself with the knowledge that later, when they were alone, he could wipe that smirk right off of Joshua’s smug, pretty lips.

They looked up when Seungkwan’s part of the song ended, and Seokmin, Soonyoung, and Mingyu went over to pat Seungkwan on the back. Joshua’s eyes widened, and he looked at the little pool of water hopefully, a sparkle in his eyes that made Seungcheol realize that he was well and truly whipped for one Joshua Hong.

“Ok, we can film yours and Mingyu’s parts at the same time, so...just listen to the directors,” their manager said, rolling his eyes fondly at Joshua’s obvious excitement.

“Roger that,” Joshua quipped happily in English, practically skipping over to the pool, Seungcheol following behind, brushing down the flashy sequins on his suit. 

“Ironic indeed,” Seungcheol muttered to Jeonghan, who had walked up behind him to put an arm on his shoulder. The singer smiled one of his thin, amused smiles, clever but somehow motherly as well.

“Look at him, little fish boy,” Jeonghan crowed fondly, gesturing as Joshua stepped into the shallow pool, looking delighted about having some part of his body covered in water. “Look at how happy he is. He’s adorable. Why do I feel proud?” He put a mocking hand over his heart, and Seungcheol whacked him lightly.

“Let him be happy. We don’t get to swim often,” he reminded, and Jeonghan shrugged, sauntering off to the pool to talk to Joshua, who seemed eager to just dunk himself in the water. Seungcheol followed, making sure to keep an eye on the hanging cameras above his head.

“Ok, so do you just want me to like, float here?” Joshua was asking, and one of their directors nodded, spouting off about some kind of cinematic techniques that Seungcheol couldn’t follow that well. He was more focused on the way Joshua finally got to lay down on the water’s surface and sigh happily, a sort of blissed-out and relaxed look on his face. The last time he got to see Joshua so in his element, so comfortable and at home, was when they’d gone to a pool to shoot one of their Going Seventeen episodes.

“Well, this should be easy. All he has to do is float there,” Jihoon hummed, coming up on Seungcheol’s other side. “It took Minghao forever to get the shoot on those bars ‘cause he was afraid he was gonna fall off.”

“Sounds like something Seokmin would be afraid of,” Jeonghan snorted, reaching down to flick a little water into Joshua’s face.

“Rude,” Joshua mumbled, but he didn’t seem all that bothered, and he kept his eyes closed, looking peaceful. Seungcheol kept an eye on Joshua’s neck, squinting through the cloudy blue water to see if his gills would show themselves, but, true to his word, Joshua kept his gills firmly shut, which relieved Seungcheol a little. It wouldn’t do them good if anyone else found out about his...extra breathing apparatuses. 

“Alright, all of you shoo,” one of the directors called, waving her hands at them. They obeyed, stepped back as their title song started to play again. 

Chan tapping his shoulder made Seungcheol look away, though reluctantly.

“Hey, they said they wanted to do your ending shot right now,” he explained, and Seungcheol nodded, shooting one last glance over his shoulder at Joshua’s form in the water, sprawled out gracefully, hair floating around him. He really looked like some kind of water spirit, the ghost of an elegant drowned man-

That was a dark train of thought. But Joshua _was_ very beautiful, Seungcheol thought to himself as he walked in front of the salmon-pink backdrop where he would finally rip that stupid Apple watch off of his neck. It was starting to chafe and Seungcheol would be happy to pull it off.

The addition of a lot of glitter to the shot made Seungcheol grimace inwardly as he imagined all of the plastic-y particles falling down his shirt and sticking to his skin, but he had to admit, tilting his head back and just ripping off the watch with his bare hand was pretty damn satisfying, and their Carats would probably freak out at it. It made him smile a little, but as he handed the watch to the nearest stylist, he was mostly just glad to have it off. 

“Ok, that was good, so you won’t have to redo it,” the camera man said, and Seungcheol nodded, trying to brush some of the glitter off of his neck and collarbones, with little success.

Once he was given the go-ahead, he made his way back over to the pool, where Joshua was sitting up and talking to one of the cameras, probably for the behind-the-scenes cut. There was a towel around his shoulders, and Seungcheol was filled with the strange urge to ruffle his hair dry.

“Whipped,” Seungkwan suddenly hissed into his ear, and Seungcheol jumped violently, whirling around to glare at the sassy singer.

“Shut up,” he muttered, and Seungkwan only laughed, giving him a kind of “see? I’m right” look. Seungcheol loved Seungkwan, he really did, but if the younger kept on looking so smug, he might just find a couple worms crawling around his bed that night.

Seungcheol turned back to the person whom he loved much more romantically, who, surprisingly, was already looking at him, glancing over between talking to the camera and talking to the director. He sent a small smile and Joshua smiled back, full lips tilting up adorably. That made Seungcheol smile wider, a warm feeling flooding his heart.

“Whipped,” Jihoon nodded, and Seungcheol groaned.

But when the camera went away and Joshua made grabby hands for him, he made his way over without thinking about it.

“Hey,” he said softly, patting Joshua’s wet hair and giving him a little smile.

“Hi. I watched your ending part,” Joshua hummed, giving him a grin and tugging him down. “It was hot.” The feeling of lips brushing his ear made Seungcheol jerk back, and he frowned, feeling his cheeks heat up.

“Again, you’ve been hanging out with Jeonghan too much,” he mumbled, and Joshua laughed, gently whacking him with the wet towel, much to his chagrin. 

“Yeah, well, you haven’t been hanging out with him enough,” Joshua countered, a smirk on his lips. “If you join us maybe we can all talk about some _ things_,” he purred, a playfully seductive light in his eyes. Seungcheol raised an eyebrow.

“Should I be concerned about what you and Jeonghan get up to in your alone time?” he hummed, running one hand through Joshua’s wet hair. He only received a smirk.

“I dunno, should you?” Joshua shrugged, closing his eyes and pushing his head into Seungcheol’s hand like a cat. Seungcheol just laughed, rolling his eyes and shaking his head. He was, at that point, far too used to Joshua and Jeonghan’s twin devil antics to be fazed by them anymore.

“Ok, enough of you two being gross,” Jun huffed, walking over and draping another towel over Joshua’s head. “The manger says to get dry and stuff so we can finalize all the footage.” The pair hummed agreement, and Joshua stood up, shaking the last of the water from his hair right into Seungcheol’s face before flouncing off so the leader couldn’t retaliate. Seungcheol made a mental note to slap him with a wet rag later, then followed, pouting at how the water made the glitter stick to his body even more.

* * *

When they were all allowed to change back into their street clothes, Seungcheol immediately ruffled Joshua’s (mostly) dry hair and wrapped an arm around his waist for a brief moment, petting his hip since it was just them and the other members in the changing rooms. 

“Good job, by the way. You looked nice,” he murmured against Joshua’s temple, slipping his thumb into one of the belt loops on Joshua’s jeans.

“Thank you,” Joshua hummed, tilting his head into Seungcheol’s neck for a second, eyes closed contentedly. “You didn’t look too shabby yourself. Now we just gotta finalize the dance sections and we’re done, right?” Seungcheol hummed affirmation, patting his hip before pulling away so he could tug on a jacket.

“Gross,” he heard Jeonghan yell from across the room. Seungcheol just flipped him off, refusing to even look in his direction. He ignored the snickering coming from Wonwoo and Soonyoung’s corner of the room. 

“What’s gross is how you still have glitter in your hair,” Joshua huffed, reaching up to swat at Seungcheol’s hair.

“I know, I know. I’m gonna have to scrape it off of my skin. I hate it when we use glitter in our shoots,” Seungcheol sighed, aggressively shaking his hair like Hansol always did and ruffling the strands to dislodge a truly alarming amount of glitter. That spurred both Joshua and Mingyu into action, the younger pair forcing him to sit down and picking through his hair to free him of the rainbow flecks of plastic still stubbornly remaining in his hair.

“It looks like a unicorn disintegrated in your hair,” Mingyu sighed, and Seungcheol snorted, gently swatting Mingyu and Joshua away so he could stand up. Just because he loved the closeness, he wrapped an arm around Joshua’s waist, once again settling a casual hand on his hip as he pulled out his phone. A sense of contentedness spread in his chest when he felt Joshua lean into him, head on his shoulder as he chatted with Hansol and Soonyoung about something.

“Gross. But cute.” Seungcheol huffed when he felt Jeonghan peek over his other side, hands curling over his shoulder like some kind of annoying evil henchman from an animated movie.

“You’re just jealous,” Joshua snipped back, and everyone else in the room readied themselves for Jeonghan and Joshua’s typical petty arguments that really only made them get closer.

“Of you? Please. I’d rather not have a gym rat for a boyfriend. Or a fish, either,” Jeonghan snorted.

“I’d rather not be with someone who loves his hair more than he loves himself,” Joshua shot back, leaning closer to Jeonghan. Seungcheol, starting to feel vaguely threatened by what was basically two sassy cats playfully glaring at each other, gently nudged them apart.

“Alright, alright, before this goes to blows, lets calm down,” he laughed nervously, and Joshua and Jeonghan turned their narrow-eyed smirks onto him instead. Seungcheol smiled back awkwardly and tightened his grip on Joshua’s waist.

“Do you want me to pet your neck until you fall over again?” he muttered, leaning closer to Joshua’s ear. He had learned, through some trial and error, that petting Joshua’s neck where his gills were made him quite weak in the knees, and once, when Joshua was tired and Seungcheol was bored, he’d run his fingers up and down Joshua’s throat until the singer had almost collapsed, eyes closed and expression blissful. It was cute and oddly cat-like, but certainly an effective weapon.

“You wouldn’t dare,” Joshua hissed.

“Would I?” Seungcheol raised an eyebrow, but Joshua glared at him.

“Next time we go swimming I’m going to drown you,” Joshua huffed, and Seungcheol snickered, leaning across him to press a quick, placating kiss to his lips.

“Sure you will.”

“Yeah, I will. I’m gonna drag you into the bath and hold you underwater,” Joshua threatened. Seungcheol just laughed again, but a hand slipping into his back pocket and squeezing none-too-gently made him yelp and glare at Jeonghan over his shoulder, but the younger had his hands to himself, grinning with pearly teeth.

He glanced at Joshua, who was smiling serenely, and his eyebrows shot into his hair.

Joshua had really been hanging out with Jeonghan too much.

* * *

When they got back to the dorms, Seungcheol’s mild annoyance had evaporated, and mostly he just wanted to cuddle and relax. So, with that in mind, he didn’t fight when Joshua tugged him into the bathroom, set about drawing a bath, and pulled him into a slow, warm kiss.

“Love you,” Joshua murmured against his lips, and Seungcheol smiled.

“Love you too, little fish boy,” he chuckled, cupping the back of Joshua’s neck with one hand and petting the short strands of hair at the back of his head. “Did you have fun today?” Joshua only hummed, arms looping around Seungcheol’s shoulders, gills flicking open and closed. Seungcheol let his fingers run across the topmost slit, eliciting a small, satisfying shiver.

“You like it when I do this, don’t you?” he prompted, more fond than teasing, and Joshua nodded, leaning into him happily and tilting his head further to the side.

“Such a cat,” Seungcheol laughed, pulling back just enough to tug at the hem of Joshua’s shirt. “Alright, let me go check the bath, ok?” He gently shooed Joshua away, checking the water and watching out of the corner of his eye as Joshua pulled his shirt off, carefully avoiding letting the fabric get caught on his still-open gills. He stood up, and, grinning, placed his wet palm right in the middle of Joshua’s back, which got him a yelp and a smack to his arm.

“Asshole,” Joshua muttered, but kept stripping anyway, and Seungcheol laughed, flicking more water at the back of Joshua’s head. “Hey! You too! Unless you plan on bathing with all your clothes on.”

“That’d be weird. And uncomfy,” Seungcheol grimaced, but he flushed when he felt cool hands slide under his shirt, pushing it up until his chest was exposed.

“Up,” Joshua ordered, and Seungcheol obeyed, lifting his arms for Joshua to work his shirt off of his shoulders. When the singer had set his shirt on the counter, he put his hands back on Seungcheol’s chest, sliding his palms down the leader’s torso and leaving tingly trails in the wake of his fingertips.

“Y’know, Jeonghan complains about you being a gym rat, and you are, but I kinda like it,” Joshua said lightly, and Seungcheol raised an eyebrow, putting his own hands on Joshua’s slender hips, smoothing his palms over the tanned skin.

“Is that a compliment or an insult?” he huffed, and Joshua just gave him a smile. “Also, isn’t it ironic that you love water, and right as our comeback rolls around you get to have a part to yourself in the music video that literally just consists of you _ in the water_?”

Joshua hummed. “I mean, yeah, but I had fun.” Seungcheol snorted.

“Of course you would. Alright, weirdo, go get in the bath.” With one last pat to Joshua’s rear, he sent the singer off into the warm water, smiling at his little annoyed squeak. Still, he softened when Joshua held his hands out, making grabby motions for him. Being with Joshua was a never-ending cycle of being flustered, smug, and soft, sometimes all three at once.

He was leaning towards soft; whenever Joshua was in the water, he always got kind of floaty and relaxed, even more so in warm water. It was cute, and Seungcheol thought it was especially adorable when Joshua pulled him into the bath and cuddled up to his chest, kissing the bottom of his jaw for a second before just sort of melting over him.

“Happy?” Seungcheol laughed fondly, petting Joshua’s hair. Joshua nodded, humming a bit, closing his eyes and winding his arms around Seungcheol’s waist. “You really do love the water, don’t you?”

“That has been established,” Joshua sighed pleasantly, dunking his head beneath the water for several seconds. Seungcheol watched, reached down and pet Joshua’s cheek when he saw the singer’s gills open and close lazily with the movement of his chest. Even in just a shallow pool or a bathtub, he really did look completely at home. Seungcheol wondered where he came from.

“Cute,” he murmured under his breath, heart fawning over the way Joshua tilted into his touch even underwater, eyes closed contentedly. For someone who loved water, he was remarkably cat-like. Seungcheol thought it was adorable. Even if they were both very naked.

“Hey,” Joshua said once he stuck his head out of the water again. He moved so he could rest his chin on Seungcheol’s chest, eyes heavy-lidded and a little smile lingering on the corner of his mouth.

“Hey,” Seungcheol said back. Joshua walked two of his fingers along Seungcheol’s arm, stopping on his shoulder and rubbing gently.

“I love you,” Joshua said quietly.

“I love you too.” It wasn’t the first time they’d said it to each other, not by far, and Seungcheol made sure each of the members knew he loved them, but he also loved Joshua in a different way. Not in a better or more superior way, just differently. “I love you a lot, so come up here and kiss me, ok?”

“Gladly,” Joshua laughed, raising himself out of the water a little to lightly press his lips to Seungcheol’s in a quick, chaste kiss.

“That was awful. I think we need to try again,” Seungcheol huffed with pretend thoughtfulness. Joshua rolled his eyes, but there was a gleam in his gaze.

“Yeah, maybe we do,” he hummed, and anything Seungcheol would have replied with was stolen right out of his mouth when Joshua kissed him again, with a lot more intention and passion than before. Seungcheol liked it. He liked it a lot when he felt Joshua’s tongue glide over his lips, the sensation familiar and almost calming now that it had been associated with breathing. He liked it even more when he felt Joshua shimmy up so they could lie chest-to-chest, which was a bit crowded in the small tub but they didn’t care.

He liked it so much, in fact, that he almost didn’t hear the aggressive knocking on the door, coupled with Wonwoo’s yell.

“Quit making out in the bath tub! Some of us have to actually brush our teeth, y’know!”

**Author's Note:**

> If any of y'all are still interested, I know this is sort of short so I have another pretty massive Fish Boy story in the works and I'm contemplating on whether to split it into two chapters or not sooooo  
Look forward to that when I actually getting around to writing it  
Thanks for reading ^-^


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